Picket for a railing system

ABSTRACT

A picket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottom rail, the picket including an elongated tubular body having inner and outer walls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottom rails, respectively. The inner wall defines a longitudinal bore through the elongated tubular body from the first end to the second end. The picket includes a reinforcing member connected to and extending away from the inner wall of the elongated tubular body.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of railings and in particular to apicket for a railing system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Railing systems for any number of outdoor applications are well known.For example, residential decks, pool decks, playgrounds, etc., allutilize any number of conventional railing systems. Such railing systemsare typically made of pressure treated lumber or aluminum particularlysuited for outdoor use.

Typically, railing systems utilize pickets which engage a top and bottomrail. To save material, pickets are generally tubular in shape with abore extending from one end of the picket to the other.

Building codes have been implemented in various jurisdictions throughoutthe world. Typically, in order to safeguard the public, these codes setminimum performance requirements. One such requirement relates torailing in-fills i.e. pickets. Here, pickets are required to meetcertain horizontal load requirements.

In the past, when such load requirements are applied to traditionalpickets, the pickets have been known to fail by either deflecting morethan what is allowable under code or by simply disengaging from the topor bottom rails. Consequently, such pickets are undesirable,particularly in the residential railing industry where homeownersfrequently install or build their own railing systems.

Accordingly, a need exists for an improved picket for a railing systemwhich overcomes the deficiencies noted above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apicket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottom rail. Thepicket may include an elongated tubular body having inner and outerwalls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottom rails,respectively. The inner wall may define a longitudinal bore through theelongated tubular body from the first end to the second end. Areinforcing member may be connected to and extend away from the innerwall of the elongated tubular body.

The inner wall of the tubular body may include a first, a second, athird and a fourth wall arranged at right angles to one-another to forma first corner, a second corner, a third corner, and a fourth corner.

The reinforcing member may run longitudinally from the first end of thetubular body to the second end and may span the bore defined by theinner wall. The reinforcing member may extend from the first corner tothe third corner, the second corner to the fourth corner, or from thefirst corner to the third corner and from the second corner to thefourth corner.

The elongated tubular body or reinforcing member may be comprised ofaluminum.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided apicket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottom rail. Thepicket may include an elongated tubular body having inner and outerwalls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottom rails,respectively. The inner wall may define a bore through the elongatedtubular body from the first end to the second end. A reinforcing membermay be connected to and extend away from the inner wall and across thebore defined by the inner wall of the elongated tubular body.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there isprovided a picket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottomrail. The picket may include an elongated tubular body having inner andouter walls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottomrails, respectively. The inner wall may define a bore through theelongated tubular body from the first end to the second end. A pluralityof reinforcing members may be connected to and extend away from theinner wall of the elongated tubular body. Each of the reinforcingmembers may run longitudinally from the first end of the tubular body tothe second end.

Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to thedetailed description of the preferred embodiment and to the claims thatfollow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiment of the invention will be described by referenceto the drawings thereof in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a railing system incorporating a picketin accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a representative picket of the railingsystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along lines 3 c-3 c of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view along lines 3 c-3 c of FIG. 2 depictinga second embodiment of the picket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along lines 3 c-3 c of FIG. 2 depictinga third embodiment of the picket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view along lines 3 c-3 c of FIG. 2 depictinga fourth embodiment of the picket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a fifth embodiment of the picket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a sixth embodiment of the picket of FIG. 2;and

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of a seventh embodiment of the picket of FIG.2

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which areillustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way ofexplanation of the invention, and not meant as a limitation of theinvention. For example, features illustrated or described as part of oneembodiment can be used on another embodiment to yield still a thirdembodiment. It is intended that the present invention include suchmodifications and variations as come within the scope and spirit of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a railing system 10 is generally shown includingtop and bottom rails 12 and 14 and end posts 16 and 18. The railingsystem 10 includes pickets 20. To determine whether an infill or picketwill meet local building code requirements, a horizontal load along line11 is generally applied to the infill.

FIG. 2 illustrates a representative picket 22. Picket 22 comprises anelongated tubular body 24 having inner 26 and outer 28 walls and first30 and second 32 ends for engaging the top and bottom rails 12 and 14,respectively.

In this embodiment, inner wall 26 is comprised of a first 1, a second 2,a third 3 and a fourth 4 wall arranged at right angles to one-another.First 1 and second 2 walls form a first corner 1 a, second and thirdwalls form a second corner 2 a, third 3 and fourth 4 walls form a thirdcorner 3 a, and fourth 4 and first 1 wall form a fourth corner 4 a. Asthose skilled in the art will appreciate the cross-sectional shape ofthe picket as viewed from an end may be a circle, oval or any otherparticular shape suitable for a picket.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 the inner wall 26 defines a longitudinal bore34 running through the length of elongated tubular body 24 from thefirst end 30 to said second end 32.

To meet certain building code requirements a reinforcing member 36 isconnected to and extends away from the inner wall 26 of the elongatedtubular body 24. Reinforcing member 36 may be connected to the innerwall 26 via welding. Preferably, reinforcing member 36 is integrallyformed with elongated tubular body 24 via extrusion for instance or byother means known in the art. As shown in FIG. 3, reinforcing member 36may run the entire length of elongated tubular body 24 from the firstend 30 to the second end 32 of the tubular body.

Depending upon local building code horizontal load requirements, severalreinforcing members 36 may be applied along inner wall 26 at variousstrategic positions. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a picket isexpected to withstand a low horizontal load requirement, a reinforcingmember running the length of the picket may not be required. To savematerial while still meeting horizontal load requirements, it may beadvantageous to utilize multiple reinforcing members 36 placed in astaggered linear fashion along inner wall 26. Alternatively, asillustrated in FIG. 5, a reinforcing member 36 may simply be connectedto the middle region of the picket 22 where bending forces may be morepronounced.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 6, when local building codesrequire a picket to meet a high horizontal load requirement, multipleparallel reinforcing members 36 may be used along inner wall 26.Depending on local building code requirements, as those skilled in theart will appreciate, any combination or length of reinforcing membersmay be used.

When additional reinforcement of a picket is required, reinforcingmember 36 may span the bore 34. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 7and 8, respectively, reinforcing member 36 may extend from the firstcorner 1 a to the third corner 3 a or from the second corner 2 a to thefourth corner 4 a. For even greater internal support, as illustrated inFIG. 9, reinforcing member 36 may extend from the first corner 1 a tothe third corner 3 a and from the second corner 2 a to the fourth corner4 a to form an X pattern.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. It isintended that the present invention include such modifications andvariations as come within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A picket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottom rail,the picket comprising: an elongated tubular body having inner and outerwalls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottom rails,respectively, said inner wall defining a longitudinal bore through saidelongated tubular body from said first end to said second end; and areinforcing member connected to and extending away from said inner wallof said elongated tubular body.
 2. The picket of claim 1 wherein saidreinforcing member runs longitudinally from said first end of saidtubular body to said second end.
 3. The picket of claim 1 wherein saidreinforcing member spans said bore defined by said inner wall.
 4. Thepicket of claim 1 wherein said inner wall of said tubular body comprisesa first, a second, a third and a fourth wall arranged at right angles toone-another, said first and second wall forming a first corner, saidsecond and third wall forming a second corner, said third and fourthwall forming a third corner, and said fourth and first wall forming afourth corner.
 5. The picket of claim 4 wherein said reinforcing memberextends from said first corner to said third corner.
 6. The picket ofclaim 4 wherein said reinforcing member extends from said second cornerto said fourth corner.
 7. The picket of claim 4 wherein said reinforcingmember extends from said first corner to said third corner and from saidsecond corner to said fourth corner.
 8. The picket of claim 1 whereinsaid elongated tubular body is comprised of aluminum.
 9. The picket ofclaim 1 wherein said reinforcing member is comprised of aluminum.
 10. Apicket for a railing system having a top rail and a bottom rail, thepicket comprising: an elongated tubular body having inner and outerwalls and first and second ends for engaging the top and bottom rails,respectively, said inner wall defining a bore through said elongatedtubular body from said first end to said second end; and a reinforcingmember connected to and extending away from said inner wall and acrosssaid bore defined by said inner wall of said elongated tubular body. 11.The picket of claim 10 wherein said reinforcing member runslongitudinally from said first end of said tubular body to said secondend.
 12. The picket of claim 10 wherein said inner wall of said tubularbody comprises a first, a second, a third and a fourth wall arranged atright angles to one-another, said first and second wall forming a firstcorner, said second and third wall forming a second corner, said thirdand fourth wall forming a third corner, and said fourth and first wallforming a fourth corner.
 13. The picket of claim 11 wherein saidreinforcing member extends from said first corner to said third corner.14. The picket of claim 11 wherein said reinforcing member extends fromsaid second corner to said fourth corner.
 15. The picket of claim 11wherein said reinforcing member extends from said first corner to saidthird corner and from said second corner to said fourth corner.
 16. Thepicket of claim 10 wherein said elongated tubular body is comprised ofaluminum.
 17. The picket of claim 10 wherein said reinforcing member iscomprised of aluminum.
 18. A picket for a railing system having a toprail and a bottom rail, the picket comprising: an elongated tubular bodyhaving inner and outer walls and first and second ends for engaging thetop and bottom rails, respectively, said inner wall defining a borethrough said elongated tubular body from said first end to said secondend; and a plurality of reinforcing members connected to and extendingaway from said inner wall of said elongated tubular body, each of saidreinforcing members running longitudinally from said first end of saidtubular body to said second end.
 19. The picket of claim 18 wherein eachof said plurality of reinforcing members span said bore defined by saidinner wall.
 20. The picket of claim 18 wherein said elongated tubularbody is comprised of aluminum.
 21. The picket of claim 18 wherein eachof said plurality of reinforcing members is comprised of aluminum.